Reflecting on 2025

2025 marked a big milestone for The Paper Mouse. Reaching ten years as a little shop in West Newton Square was an accomplishment we wanted to celebrate by finally making some of the dream products on our wish list. Now that we’re on the other side, looking back at a year that was astonishingly busy from a mix of unexpected setbacks and several successful launches, we were put to the test. One thing is for sure: we were in awe throughout the year of the support from our community of stationery lovers. By the time our anniversary arrived, the shop had picked up so much momentum, everything seemed to happen in a flash.

We’re taking that energy to propel us into new adventures in 2026, making new connections with stationery brands and building on the relationships that led to the exciting product launches of the past year. But before we get too ahead of ourselves, it’s finally that time to pause, take it all in, and reflect on the journey.

Japan Trip

In February, our team returned to Japan a second time. A major highlight of the trip was our visit to one of Nakabayashi’s factories in Izumo, where they make our very own Paper Mouse Logical Prime notebooks. We were also able to explore Kamihaku, a major Japanese paper expo, and the Tokyo International Gift Show. The trip was packed with new experiences like driving through rural locations, lodging at a traditional mountainside Japanese home, visiting Hokkaido, and finally seeing Mt. Fuji in full view.

Spring Events

Spring was a bustling season with many shop events. We hosted nibmeister Kirk Speer for the first time. The Hobonichi Meetup Caravan made a stop at The Paper Mouse at the end of April. We then kicked off the TRAVELER’S COMPANY Stamp Caravan in the US at the start of May. Fans came from all over to stamp their notebooks with TRAVELER’S special stamp collection. To jump in on the stamping fun, we held a Stamp of Approval event where shop visitors could vote for their favorite Paper Mouse stamp prototypes.

Summer Highlights

We were pleasantly surprised by the many travelers making our shop a pitstop on their trips during the summer during a typically slow time of the year. We launched all the stamps everyone had a chance to try during our Stamp of Approval event in the Spring. Then, we were completely floored by the turnout for Stationery Store Day. The day after, we headed to New York for the summer trade shows.

Planner Season & Fountain Pen Fun

Though we had many celebratory moments in 2025, the impact of tariffs was in the background, affecting the timing of our purchases, delaying shipments, causing price increases, and even cancelling some of our plans. As a result of the changes in tariffs at the end of August, our in-store Hobonichi launch was postponed due to our order getting stuck in Ohio for two weeks. Despite the shipping delay headaches, we sold out of many of the planners from Hobonichi Day and doubled our order for the restock.

A Season of Celebration

We kicked off the beginning of November celebrating fountain pens. Our friend Scott represented Kolo and Sailor at the fountain pen day celebration along with Josh Lax, who took nib grinding appointments at the shop. The following week, we topped off the festivities with the release of our very own fountain pens, Moonlit Voyage and Flowing Friendship, made in collaboration with Opus 88.

Our 10th birthday celebration was an incredible day. We lost track of how many you came to join us. Josh Lax returned for nib grinding appointments during our fountain pen exploration event and in the shop, we debuted our Sunset Stroll Yu-sari notebook and hosted a King Jim pop-up with some crafting activities.

We usually expect the holidays to be a whirlwind of shopping—and they were. The enthusiasm for our new fountain pens was the best surprise even with the unfortunate manufacturing delay of our Flowing Friendship pen. Within two months, we had already sold out of both pens and the custom nibs. We had a feeling everyone would love the pens, but now we can say we’re pen-abled to keep dreaming up more fun stationery!

Looking ahead in 2026

What’s in store for 2026? Our wish for the coming year is a little more smooth sailing. We’re planning to pace ourselves and make room for some rest before we tackle more projects. We’ve started the first few weeks on our first adventure to Taiwan, another popular destination for stationery lovers. While in Taiwan we visited a few pen and ink brands and met with Kelly from Opus 88 (in-person this time!) to tour their new factory. We’re excited to share more once we’re back home.